Diplomats walk out of the summit and protesters heckle Iran's leader Ahmadinejad

Two protesters, wearing colored wigs, briefly disrupted the beginning of the speech by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad but he continued speaking.

Shortly afterward a stream of Western delegates walked out when he attacked the creation of the state of Israel.

France, which had warned of a walkout, described it as "hate speech".

Some of those who stayed clapped as Mr Ahmadinejad continued his speech.

The walkout is a public relations disaster for the United Nations, which had hoped the conference would be a shining example of what the UN is supposed to do best - uniting to combat injustice in the world, says the BBC's Imogen Foulkes in Geneva.